PIG IN THE MIDDLE

Gemma NEEDS a kidney
6th February 2005

	Gemma Lewis and her friend Ryan Wheeler are both on the waiting list for a kidney transplant.
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There are thousands of people currently awaiting a kidney transplant in the UK. 5,000 people are already on the waiting list and the shortage of kidney donors means that some patients will have to face a wait of up to five years for a transplant.

One such patient is 17 year old Gemma Lewis, who has already been on dialysis for six months. She is hoping for a kidney transplant so that she can fulfill her dream of becoming a warden of a nature reserve. Gemma realizes that she may have a long wait ahead of her. “I could be nearly 23 before I get a chance of a new kidney and even then it’ll probably only last between 10 and 20 years. I’ll also have to take anti-rejection drugs every day just so that my body won’t reject the new kidney”.

I think that more money should be put into improving the donor system. There is a massive shortage of donor organs and most kidneys are taken from people who have died. The problem is that kidneys can only be taken from people who die in specific ways, like from certain types of head injury”.

While patients wait for a new kidney to become available, they must undergo regular dialysis, which takes over the role of the damaged kidneys. Dialysis is a process of removing waste products and excess fluid which build up in the body when the kidneys stop working. Gemma has to undergo haemodialysis three times a week, for up to four hours at a time at Unsworth hospital, during which blood taken from the body is cleaned in a filter known as a dialyser.

However, another system of dialysis is also available. Peritoneal dialysis, commonly known as the “bag system” allows patients to manage their own care, and this gives them independence and flexibility. In peritoneal dialysis, the process of dialysis takes place inside the body. The abdomen has a lining called the peritoneal membrane, which can be used as a filter to remove excess waste and water. A tube (catheter) is inserted into the abdomen and special dialysis fluid is drained into the abdomen. Excess waste and water pass from the blood into the fluid and after a few hours the fluid is drained out.

Gemma’s friend, 16 year old Ryan Wheeler, also a patient at Unsworth Hospital has currently switched to peritoneal dialysis, “The bag system gives me a lot more freedom and it means I can do things like play football again. The only thing is that I told some of my friends recently and they didn’t really understand. It’s really hard, carrying a bag around with you all the time like some old man.”